Lind Combine Derby canceled amid COVID-19 concerns

LIND — The 33rd annual Lind Combine Demolition Derby has been canceled due to COVID-19.

The event that was to have been held June 12 through 14, was canceled on April 22 by a unanimous vote of its board. According to derby chairman Mike Doyle, there were several reasons the board decided to cancel the event.

“We knew it was going to be hard to get all of our supplies,” Doyle said. “We were worried we wouldn’t draw a crowd, and we didn’t know if security would have come or not.”

The board also did not want someone to catch COVID-19 during the derby and give the event a bad name.

“One of the biggest things was if we geared up for it and our fine governor kept extending this (stay-home order), we’d have a bunch of expenses out there,” Doyle said.

This is the first time since the derby was started in 1988 that the event won’t be held. Despite the cancellation, Doyle thinks that the derby will continue to maintain the crowds that it has had in the past.

“I think it will go back to normal,” Doyle said. “We’ll have to make it bigger and better next year. Drivers have two years to work on their combines.”